Near Fredericksburg in Gillespie County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Guenther's Live Oak Mill
Photographed By Larry D. Moore, June 8, 2019
1. Guenther's Live Oak Mill Marker
By 1848, Carl Hilmar Guenther (1826-1902), master millwright, had completed his apprenticeship in Germany and immigrated to the U.S.. In search of opportunities and a good grist mill site, he journeyed south from Wisconsin to New Orleans, and then west to Texas. In 1851 he bought land and water rights on Live Oak Creek near Fredericksburg. After six months of construction, his mill was operational, but a flood destroyed the first dam. One month after the floor the mill was working again.Ox drawn wagons loaded with harvested crops converged on the mill in the mornings, and after the farmers' business was completed the men remained to visit with each other. The mill became a center of social life in the Hill Country community.
Guenther was granted U.S. Citizenship in gillespie County in 1854. He married Dorothea Pape in 1855. They lived in a home near the mill and were eventually the parents of seven children.
In 1859 Guenther chose a site about one mile from the center of San Antonio as a new site for his mill operation. Guenther mills soon became the Pioneer Flour Mills, an enterprise which became a flourishing
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Erected 1991 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 10049.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1848.
Location. 30° 13.695′ N, 98° 54.702′ W. Marker is near Fredericksburg, Texas, in Gillespie County. Marker is on State Highway 16, 0.2 miles south of Horseshoe Bend, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Fredericksburg TX 78624, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Wunderlich Houses (approx. 3.1 miles away); Fredericksburg Lodge No. 794, A.F. & A.M. (approx. 3.2 miles away); Baethge-Behrend Homestead (approx. 3.6 miles away); Henry Basse House (approx. 3.7 miles away); Dangers Stone House (approx. 3.8 miles away); Pape Log Cabin (approx. 3.8 miles away); Mueller-Petmecky House (approx. 3.8 miles away); Kuenemann House (approx. 3.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fredericksburg.
Photographed By Larry D. Moore, June 8, 2019
2. Guenther's Live Oak Mill Marker Area
Credits. This page was last revised on June 10, 2019. It was originally submitted on June 9, 2019, by Larry D. Moore of Del Valle, Texas. This page has been viewed 599 times since then and 151 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 9, 2019, by Larry D. Moore of Del Valle, Texas. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
